First Person Report:
Ministry as a Homeless Shelter Chaplain

Chaplain Aaron Knapp was selected as Chaplain of the Year for 2009. He had been a senior pastor for 37 years when he sensed God leading him into chaplaincy ministry. In his own words, he said “God led me to let go of that congregation to give myself to this ministry.”

Now, his flock is with Open House Ministries, serving approximately 150 people in both the shelter and transitional housing programs in the Vancouver area. In this interview with GROW Magazine, Chaplain Knapp shares a glimpse behind the scenes in his work as a chaplain in this busy homeless shelter.

For many years as a pastor I had an interest in outreach ministry that focused on the underprivileged. To some extent we had even targeted bus ministry as part of that concern because it took us into housing projects, trailer parks and apartment complexes with low income families.

A good friend, who was a Salvation Army Captain, accepted a position as a director of a faith based homeless shelter. My interest grew through that connection, while at the same time God was providentially arranging my life circumstances toward this change in ministry focus.

Then God began making it increasingly clear that I would relinquish my post as Senior Pastor after so many years. It was at one and the same time the most difficult and most rewarding experience in my ministry. On April 1, 2001 I began my ministry as chaplain at Open House Ministries.

The Open House Ministries offer a full range of programs, including alcohol and drug recovery, counseling, marriage and parenting classes, childcare, and a work center. The transition between pastor and chaplain was unique because of my age at the time and the uncertainty of the job description. Although I would be doing pastoral assignments like jail and hospital visitation, counseling, spiritual encouragement, teaching and preaching, and advocacy, my ministry was made up of an entire congregation of people who were in perpetual crisis.

Everyone had one or more of the following: addiction, legal complications, medical or mental health problems, child custody issues, financial issues including child support, eviction history, bad credit and/or a poor job history. For most family relationships were problems along with a host of accompanying issues.

In this environment I was called upon to define my approach and manage my schedule to the best possible impact. I was to care for and give spiritual balance and guidance to the staff while I was giving pastoral care to the residents. At the time I started there was no assurance as to how long the funding would support a chaplaincy ministry. I have now been here for eight years. God is so faithful.

We minister to about 500-700 people each year in some stage of a recovery process, providing multiple program options to address the critical needs of their lives. It is our prayer and our vision that those who pass through our doors will experience the love and forgiveness of God, enter a right relationship with Him as the beginning of a journey to wholeness.

I’m still unsure which path to take in defining potential for this ministry. It has opened up involvement in arenas I could never have imagined, in places like courtrooms, jails and Child and Family Services through advocating for families in crisis under the care of this ministry.

God has also chosen to give me a voice in the business community, the legal system and government agencies. I daily ask for wisdom to respect the opportunity, choose my words carefully, seize the moment and maximize these open doors in the interest of people’s lives under our care and to promote the Kingdom and my King.

We also network with the church community in our area to provide both financial support and volunteer assistance in a variety of maintenance and developmental projects. There are probably 50 or more churches that faithfully support our ministry.

My own local church where I formerly pastored, Liberty Bible Church of the Nazarene, has been a very valuable resource. Among the support they have provided includes covering my health insurance, sponsoring children from the shelter to camps, helping with transportation for special events and supplying so many key volunteer personnel.

Our Chairman of the Board for Open House Ministries is Wayne Garlington, who from our home church. The GED teachers for continuing education in cooperation with Clark College, include Anita Lundy, Terry Mash, Marlene Harper and Eldene Cook from our congregation. A vital core of people faithfully assists us with our monthly mailings, and adopting families for Christmas. I am grateful to Liberty Bible Church for their strong support of this ministry. Typical days rarely happen in this chaplaincy assignment. Recently, one morning began with me sitting in a courtroom with a mother and her adolescent daughter. The judge was deciding the custody of the mother’s infant son. A report from the Children’s Protective Services (CPS) case manager revealed the mother had tested positive for use of cocaine and methamphetamines. Since this mother’s rights to keep custody of her children had been based on strict accountability with weekly drug monitoring, she was at risk of losing her infant son for an undetermined amount of time.

The judge determined that with the mother’s history, even though she was making substantial improvements, there were enough reasons to take her son away. Later in the day, the CPS case manager came to the shelter and removed her son. The mother and her daughter were understandably devastated.

Court adjourned at noon and, after consoling the mother, I hurried back to my office for a staff prayer meeting. We prayed for this mother and daughter and for another lady who is seriously ill. Another request was for a couple who had completed the recovery program and wanted their children returned to them. We acknowledged to the Lord that without His touch, there was little hope for any of these broken and hurting families.

After lunch I visited with a colleague living through a very painful divorce process. He’s a young Christian, looking at a confusing and bleak future. But he continues seeking God for understanding and encouragement. We prayed together, shared some scripture, then he left my office to deal with life.

While I sat alone for a moment reflecting, praying and catching up with my thoughts, someone appeared in the doorway and asked if she could speak with me. This lady came in for a belated intake interview. She shared how she was taught that religion was a crutch and she had absolutely no church connections, even through her childhood. She related that after a short time in the shelter she immediately became aware of God and at a chapel service she was prayed for and received Christ. Her countenance immediately changed in the conversation, and so did her entire attitude.

I was thinking it would be so much easier if all lives were changed that quickly and visibly. Yet, for some, it remains a long and tedious process. Often it comes after repeated painful failures. Thank God the hope and healing is worth the time and effort it takes to see God lift people out of the pit, put them on solid footing, and give them a new song in their heart.

Before that particular day was over, I watched and prayed with another family as they released Mark, their beloved husband and father of two teenage girls, into God’s presence. He won the battle with leukemia, but was overcome by the side affects of the cure. His body filled with bacteria and when life support was withdrawn, he was soon with the Lord. It is more than warm words to say all of them experienced God’s grace and comfort on that day. There was a deep sense of His presence.

There are also many stories when the Good News brings deep and lasting transformation. One of the examples of the impact of this ministry is a family who entered our program in desperate need. They were only a few days off drugs, had their children removed from them, financially shipwrecked, out of work, unmarried, with a myriad of legal issues and no immediate prospect or hope for putting their lives together.

After a short time in the program they found the Lord, put their lives in His hands, started the process of reunification with their children. They found a job, began working out their legal issues and got married. Four years later, they now have their children at home with them, in the house they own. Their legal responsibilities have all been resolved and they are following the Lord. Now they are helping other families in our ministry who are in crisis. That is all by the grace of God.

The witness of God’s grace like this has been repeatedly heard in family meetings, at Child Protective Services, in court rooms, in jails and prisons, and in the community by residents who have met and followed the Lord.

I’ve had the privilege of visiting with a couple or individuals in my office who in the course of conversation manifested a hunger for God. I asked them to consider God’s love and willingness to forgive and help them find his purpose for their lives. Many have followed me in a simple prayer of repentance and began a new life that day as His children.

Sometimes the Holy Spirit moves on a whole class, as people begin to weep and acknowledge their needs, and we offer up a prayer for their salvation. Not long ago, I asked the whole class of a dozen people how many had found Christ for the first time or reconnected to him since coming to our shelter. All but one raised their hand. I am absolutely convinced that every day provides new opportunities for miracles and they are happening all around us.

These stories of miraculous grace give us strength and encouragement to the end of each day. Usually, at the end of the day, I will shut down my computer, take my “Chaplain Aaron is in” sign off the door, turn out the lights and go home for the evening. On the drive home, I remember I only have “five loaves and two small fish,” but I give thanks. The Lord continues to bless it and it seems to be enough.

by Chaplain Aaron Knapp
Open House Ministries